Auto Trends

We’ve had front seat airbags in consumer vehicles ever since the Oldsmobile Toronado hit the showroom floor in 1973. Some of the earlier systems would actually be found to do more harm than good, and would not truly become a popular safety feature until 1988 when Chrysler made them standard fare in all their vehicles. By 1998, gas inflated airbags were mandatory in every car built and/or sold in the USA.

Time went on, and soon side airbags were introduced to protect passengers from the event of a serious side collision. Today, there are airbags that have been designed to protect just about every aspect of a passenger, including their precious knees.

Up until until now, however, all these features have neglected one obvious portion of just about every vehicle… The rear seat passenger.

Ford Rear Seat Airbags
Ford has announced this week that they intend to become the first auto maker to design an airbag specifically for the rear passengers. Visions of bags shooting out from the rear portion of the front seats come to mind, but this is not exactly how these will be designed. In fact, there will be very little bag to inflate period.

The Ford airbags will be a very small tubular sized air cushion sewn into the seat belt strap portion that runs across the front of the chest (as shown in above photo). As a collision occurs, the bags will inflate, creating a buffer zone across the chest and neck, offering more cushion and spreading the force of the belt related impact to more area of the chest.

The end result will be less chance of injury occurring from the narrow seat belt pushing into the chest cavity and the side of the neck. The bags have yet to be tested and approved for use in vehicles, but by most expert opinions, there should be no problems getting them passed. We will likely see these towards the tail end of 2010 on the Ford Explorer.

[Photo via ABC News]

Absolutely-Funny-Bad-Crazy-Driving-Image, originally uploaded by Funny Driving

Officer: “Hi Sir/Madam, Do you know why I stopped here today?”
Driver: “Uh, no officer.”
Officer: “Well, it seems your truck is stuck here in this tree.”
Driver: “It is?”
Officer: “Yes, now may I see your license, registration, insurance, and any proof of gene variant exemption?”

Imagine a world where not only could we blame our parents for our smarts, body weight, addictive nature, and lack of hair on top of our head, but we can also blame them for being bad drivers. A group of researchers at the University of California in Irvine, have looked at several variants among good and bad drivers, and may have very well discovered a gene responsible for the coordination involved with driving a vehicle well.

The study was recently published in the journal, Cerebral Cortex, and is credited for looking at a particular gene variant that is identified by the property of blocking the protein, (BDNF), in the brain. This protein is known for its ability to aid in both memory function, and the proper coordination of the body.

Those who are missing the protein would obvious lack in the ability to do a number of tasks beyond driving if the research proves true, such as sports, video games, and riding a bike. It is believed that the variant may not only cause drivers to make more errors, but also forget what they have learned (say as in drivers school) more quickly.

The Study
The study looked at several drivers known to either have, or not have the gene variant. The drivers were then graded on their ability to successfully complete a series of driving tests. What was found, was the drivers identified with the gene, actually performed on average 20 percent worse than participants without.

Interesting, the researchers have predicted that somewhere around 30 percent of all American’s have the gene, which is presumably making them worse drivers. The next variation of tests may look at traffic accidents in correlation to the gene variants of the drivers involved, looking to identify if certain drivers really are more prone to accidents than others.

Think of what such research might do to your insurance rates?

For those of you who feel you would probably be included in with the 30 percent described as bad drivers, take heart. Additional research of BDNF, has shown that those diagnosed with Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and multiple sclerosis, are effected less by the disease when the “bad driving” gene variant is accounted for in their body.

I guess you win some… and you lose some!

Source: Left Lane News

Accident after 9 hours with a drivers license, originally uploaded by Darshan Shankar

Last Friday, reports of a new study suggested that teenagers driving their own vehicle, were more likely to get into an accident than a teen driving a parents borrowed vehicle. While these types of studies always have hidden factors that coerce the findings, in this case, parental monitoring appears to be one of the most significant factors in a teenagers safe driving habits.

The study was funded by State Farm Insurance, and carried out by the researchers at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. It was based on a national survey of 5,500 teens from 68 high schools, grades nine through 11. In a nutshell, the research suggests that when a teenager is the owner of their own vehicle, they feel a sense of entitlement to driving that can often lead to increased reckless behavior.

For instance, when in their own vehicle, students in the study were more likely to feel entitled to talk on their cell phone or drink alcohol, then when driving a borrowed vehicles with clear guidelines. To put this to statistics, with over 250,000 teenagers injured in accidents every year (5,000 deaths), those who are driving a borrowed vehicle (with rules attached to this privilege) were 30% less likely to use a cell phone and 70% less likely to drink while driving.

What this study should ultimately promote, is parents who will remain a (pardon the pun) “driving force” in their teenagers lives. Parents who do this, have more control over their teenager, are better able to provide clear ground rules, and can monitor their whereabouts more effectively. This is because the teen must first get their parents permission to borrow the car, tell them where they are going, who they will be going with, and what they will do once they get there.

Driving in this scenario is considered a privilege, not an entitlement.

Monitoring teen drivers not only boosts their chances for survival, but the survival of all those who are reading this article. Not to mention the good driving habits this will instill later in life, making today’s teenagers, better adult drivers later on. Enforce those rules parents, nobody else is going to!

Source: Examiner.com